Return to Hurlstone - the filming location of the 1986 Granada Sherlock Holmes 'Musgrave Ritual'
Ok, hold on tight everyone, this is about to get excruciatingly nerdy. On my watch-through of the excellent 1980s Granada Sherlock Holmes series I was really intrigued by the filming location for the fourth episode of the third series, The Musgrave Ritual - an eccentric moated manor house, which forms the setting for a treasure hunt in the show.
After some googling I worked out that the episode was filmed at Baddesley Clinton, which happens to be close to where I live. I had to go on my own little adventure to see what's there today, 36 years after filming! I think it gave me some fun insights into a few of the decisions the filmmakers made.
A little bit about Baddesley Clinton
Baddesley Clinton is a National Trust property in Warwickshire. Pay the (...fairly pricy imo) entrance fee and you can walk around the house and grounds, and enjoy amenities like a cafe, second hand bookshop in the stables and plant shop.
The house is incredibly interesting in its own right and has been inhabited by a colourful cast of characters over the years, mostly members of the Ferrers family. Perhaps most important for the setting of the Musgrave Ritual is the 'Victorian Quartet', two artistically-minded couples who lived at the house together in the mid 19th century and made extensive repairs and restorations. Their mediaevalesque tastes are responsible for its unique look, full of dark Tudor panelling, intricate carvings and paintings by Rebecca, a member of the Quartet.
The house was given to the National Trust in 1980 by the last member of the Ferrers family to inherit it, just six years before filming on The Musgrave Ritual took place.
Because the Musgrave Ritual is a treasure hunt complete with pacing out steps and trees as landmarks, getting a real-world location which matches the description in Arthur Conan Doyle's story would be impossible. The writer for the episode Jeremy Paul notes in the script book for the episode that Baddesly Clinton itself helped to shape the story and direction.
For example, while the original short story involves the shadow of an oak tree and an elm tree, the filmmakers realised they could add an additional twist in the tale...
There was also an 'oak and sun' problem, solved, as if by an act of God, by the fortuitous presence of a weather vane with an ornamental oak on its top.
I was really hopeful that the oak tree weather vane would still be there since it apparently belonged to the house, but alas, the top of the weather vane seems to have been replaced at some point.
I was able to match up various shots in the approach to the house though, and consider how the filmmakers had cleverly used zoom and lens focal length to make things seem closer or further away than they are in reality.
One element which is also thankfully still intact is the water door, which is responsible for one of the most enjoyably goofy shots of the episode as Holmes seems to glide across the water before we cut to a side shot to see that Watson is actually rowing him across. Again, this isn't an element which is present in the original story but which Jeremy Paul suggests was inspired by the filming location:
We had fun with the notion that Holmes' steps led him to the edge of the moat, forcing him to cross to the house by rowing boat. Such visual conceits cannot be claimed as part of the dramatist's skills, but this one in particular offered me some reflected glory.
The only real change I could see is that there is now a small wooden jetty in front of the door, and no stone platform beneath it. There was also a weird little pedalo moored there. Some googling shows that it's been there over ten years, and I'd love to know where it came from!
If you're wondering what's BEHIND that door, then... look, if anyone from the National Trust is reading this then er... I just peeked in the keyhole, ok?
This room appears throughout the episode. Much of the furniture is different (most notably the chairs) but the layout of the room remains pretty much the same.
Note that for the episode the electric lights have been removed and little pictures hung up in front of the holes where they came from! Sneaky ;D
(Gasp, Holmes no! Don't put your feet on the furniture!)
I was really excited by the tapestry hanging on the wall as it is the
backdrop for a memorable scene where Watson is trying desperately to keep the conversation with their host together while Holmes is high as a kite.
Please feel free to use the image below as a Zoom background so that you can cackle wildly at your friends, family or work colleagues in a way which will make them think you've been at the seven percent solution.
The kitchen appears briefly as the butler Brunton cleans his piccolo (...not an innuendo), and as far as I can tell all of the furniture is still the same as it was in 1986.
There is also a scene with Branston in the stables cleaning his piccolo (... that is an innuendo this time). There are stables at the house, but I couldn't pick out any distinguishing features to know if they were used for filming.
The dining room makes an appearance for a breakfast scene where poor Watson gets hot coffee spilt on him by a hysterical maid. I wasn't able to wander freely through this room so I couldn't get any shots matching angles from the show, but you can clearly see the ornate cabinet that Holmes is sat in front of:
Tumblr only allows ten images per post so I won't post a lot of the grounds which are lovely - perhaps I'll do a follow up post sometime!
There are lakes a-plenty where someone could find the crown of England and/or a dead body. I did spend a while trying to match some of the shots where Holmes is sat on a bench wrapped on a blanket looking grumpy, but I think that the benches have all been replaced and are in different places.
So, that's about it! If you're ever in Warwickshire, I definitely recommend paying Baddesley Clinton a visit.
Just don't go down into any cellars with heavy doors over them, ok?
